Benjamin Grimm

Reports say that Pence is close to a deal with the Giants.

Box score Torres 2.5 Germen 1.25 Turner 1.5 Duda 1 Lagares 0.5

Aardsma 0.5 Byrdak 0.5 d'Arnaud 1 Francisco 0.5 Gee 1 Murphy 1 Satin 1.5 Turner 1 Young 1

Following up on a thread from October 2012... (Davis-Duda: This Time It's Personal) Scouts divided on Davis or Duda in '14 NEW YORK -- If you were the Mets, and you planned to only retain one, would you rather Ike Davis or Lucas Duda as your 2014 first baseman? That was the question posed to a handful of scouts. The initial responses had Duda with a 4-2 lead. Scout 1: "Duda. Ike has not shown the ability to make adjustments with his batting stance or overall approach. Duda at first base has improved, and he looks more relaxed." Scout 2: "Tough call. I'm not thrilled with either, but would probably take Davis, because of the power potential and defense at first base." Scout 3: "Duda. He is better project than Ike." Scout 4: "Ike Davis. He has hit 30-plus homers in the major leagues and is much better defensively." Scout 5: "For me it would be Duda. At least in New York City. He appears to be less maintenance with similar power and offensive capabilities and less strikeouts." Scout 6: "Duda. If I need a hit late in the game with a runner on second or third, Duda will go to left field if they pitch him away. The other guy won't." Certain Mets officials have strong leanings as to their preference, but the organization is likely to shop both this offseason and see who may command the superior package that would fill another hole. That said, because Duda has an option, if neither is traded, Duda could open the season with Triple-A Las Vegas. Last October I was solidly for Davis. That's no longer the case. If it's an either/or, I'd reluctantly go with Duda. But I hope the answer turns out to be someone else entirely.

It looks like this won't be an issue.

He has a real shot. Especially if he takes Niese's scheduled start on Sunday.

Voting for Tuesday night's win in Cincinnati will close on Friday afternoon, some time after 2 p.m. Schaefer POTG 9/24/13 - Mets 4, Reds 2

What's with that "Bust" bowl in the upper right corner of Ed Hearn's card??

Bret Saberhagen? Frank Viola? Orlando Hernandez? Tom Glavine? Francisco Rodriguez? Johan Santana? Phil Hennigan?

As I said in the IGT, why not? They'll need a bunch of pitchers in the mix, and if Daisuke proves himself good enough to be one of them, then we'll be glad to have him.

I well remember the 1972 "traded" cards (I did one of Johan Santana when the Mets got him from the Twins) but I don't have any recollection at all of the 1973 version. Interesting to see that!

SCHAEFER METS PLAYER OF THE WEEK, 2013 Week ending April 6: John Buck, 7.21 points. Week ending April 13: Matt Harvey, 9.04 points. Week ending April 20: David Wright, 6.24 points. Week ending April 27: David Wright, 4.68 points. Week ending May 4: Ruben Tejada, 5.03 points. Week ending May 11: Matt Harvey, 5.94 points. Week ending May 18: Daniel Murphy, 10.08 points. Week ending May 25: Daniel Murphy, 6.86 points. Week ending June 1: Daniel Murphy, 5.80 points. Week ending June 8: Omar Quintanilla, 4.59 points. Week ending June 15: David Wright, 6.68 points. Week ending June 22: Omar Quintanilla, 5.20 points. Week ending June 29: Matt Harvey, 8.78 points. Week ending July 6: Kirk Nieuwenhuis, 6.19 points. Week ending July 13: Jeremy Hefner, 8.13 points. Week ending July 20: Marlon Byrd, 4.46 points. Week ending July 27: Matt Harvey, 10.15 points. Week ending August 3: Daniel Murphy, 4.59 points. Week ending August 10: Wilmer Flores, 5.73 points. Week ending August 17: Marlon Byrd, 5.96 points. Week ending August 24: Marlon Byrd, 5.74 points. Week ending August 31: Daniel Murphy, 6.68 points. Week ending September 7: Daniel Murphy, 4.46 points. Week ending September 14: Daisuke Matsuzaka, 7.14 points. Week ending September 21: Daniel Murphy, 6.64 points.

Zvon wrote: metsguyinmichigan wrote: Matsuzaka, after those initial horrid starts, has been kinda good. Spring training invite? An invite would be fine but I don't like this talk about him being a regular in the rotation next season. No reason not to have him in the mix, unless he opts for more money elsewhere. If he manages to win a spot in the 2014 Mets rotation, it will be because he's one of their five best options. They need to get a lot of innings from a lot of guys, so if Matsuzaka can be one of them, then good for him!

Feliciano 1 Hawkins 1 Matsuzaka 5 Tovar 1 Young 2

Atchison 0.6 Black 0.6 Murphy 3 Niese 3.8 Wright 1 Young 1

Voting for Monday night's loss in Cincinnati will close on Thursday afternoon, some time after 2 p.m. Schaefer POTG 9/23/13 - Reds 3, Mets 2 (10 Innings)

He's probably tired of fielding questions about his father's penis.